Ekaterina Moskalenko
when I asked her why the workers were not protesting since they were losing their jobs and the factory was collapsing, Ekaterina answered that:
"We used to have seven factories, seven! Now we will be left with only one, and everyone lucky enough to keep their job at Kreenholm will be working there. It is really very sad.
The meetings were about other things, collective agreements; the municipality increased the water rates. Our management decided to close down production after that because… well, just because!
There were practically no protests at all. People used to go on strike before, after Perestroika, when they privatized, when the Swedes bought Kreenholm and wanted to establish rules that were not really satisfactory for the workers. People wanted to go on strike back then, and our trade union leader even started a hunger strike. It was our way of protesting. That was long ago! Today people have become resigned to their fate.
Why is that?
Because it is… well, pretty much senseless; because the owners don’t need production on such a large scale; because would only make a loss… they suffer losses…
Yesterday and today people signed their discharge notices, and in three months they will lose their jobs and leave Kreenholm. They all met very calmly. There were no tears and everyone is taking it easy, because even though it is hard, everyone saw it coming. There is no hope left."
Ekaterina Moskalenko is editor of Kreenholm Gazette, Narva